L V July 23-25 Dave Koz & CCC Part 1

This trip we stayed in Henderson at Sunset Station. We had free tickets to see Dave Koz in a small venue. We also visited the mega , Central Christian Church. WOW... is what I have to say about both adventures!!! After a rocky start of food poisoning and severe leg cramps on Friday night, we almost turned around and went home. But after much prayer and rest, symptoms got better and we got to stay.

At 110 degrees, poolside was a relaxing and cool way to spend some of the morning and afternoon. The pool at Sunset Station was not crowded and the little children were polite and well attended.

We got lounges in the shadiest part of the pool area. It really was not overwhelmingly hot. Lyle needed to rest after the terrible night he attended and worried about me.

We did get a little sunburned. But it was a great way to spend the day.


Here we are later that night in our own private booth. (The other couple we were to share it with, did not show.) It was raised above everyone and I had plenty of room to stretch out my sore legs all during the concert.

The show started at 8:25 and went until almost 11:00 with a 20 minute intermission. It was a lot of show!!!!



I know it looks a great distance to the stage, but it was not! Other than being in the front 3 center rows, we had the best seats in the house.

The talent on the stage was amazing. Musically, there was a wide range of fast and slow, instrumentals and singing. Dave Koz, Jonathan Butler, and Sheila E were amazing together in harmony, musicality, and humor. Their backup band individually and collectively oozed with talent. What a fine show it was. In part 2 of this post, I have posted 2 short videos for a little taste of the music. Enjoy.

On Sunday, after a wonderful breakfast buffet at Sunset Station, we went to Central Christian Church. (You can go to their webside and get a little taste of the ministry and worship.) We LOVED, LOVED, LOVED, it! We could attend there on a regular basis. FUN!!!!!!

The people were warm and inviting. The guest center gave us a book for visiting. It is called "Stripped" by the CCC pastor. What a calling and vision to be a Las Vegas pastor. Believe me, God is alive and doing well in Las Vegas.

We arrived early and sat outside the sanctuary to watch the Jr. High and High School kids waiting for the 10:20 church to start. Kids are the same everywhere! There is a theater for the kids to meet in.

I peeked into the Pre K and Kindergarten room. I could only get half of the room from the door I was looking through.

Outside the nursary the walls were painted and had 3D art attached.

The church was huge. Seats 4000. They run 2 Saturday and 2 Sunday services and have 4 satalite churches in various parts of LV. The 2 huge HD screens, brought you close to the stage no matter where you were sitting.

I snapped these before church started. But, the place was pretty full when it started.

If you are ever in Vegas on a Sunday, we highly recommend this high energy fun church to visit. The talent on the stage was amazing and the sermon is memorable. (I will continually be aware of keeping my JOY no matter of the circumstance. It is God given and does not change as life happens. It is not the same a happiness. It is deep and is a gift from God to His family. I have it! Do you) Oh yes, the pastor was on vacation, but the huge screen dropped down and he was looking 10 feet tall on the stage as he gave the pre-made video message. It was fantastic!

Here we are at the Aria in the new City Center. (I was looking pretty tired.)

The rest of this blog is on the next page. Enjoy!

L V July 23-25 Dave Koz & CCC Part 2

Due to upload problems, I had to start a new blog to get the pictures downloaded. It would upload some pictures and both videos, but not the rest of the pictures.


A taste of Dave Koz. What a great performer! The best show we ever attended. Dave, Jonathan, and Sheila with the band were a wonderful mix of amazing talent, showmanship, and energy! Jonathan gave a brief personal testimony of being a believer and follower of Jesus! Very cool!







A taste of Sheila E and Jonathan Butler.








Lyle by The Cupcakery at the Aria....Yummy! This is for Cory and Annie!


I love this sign.
Riding the Tram from The City Center to Bellagio. These 2 buildings are built at 5 degrees slope on each building. It looks like they are crashing together. They are on the Strip apartments.

People cooling down at the Monte Carlo pools. There is a running tube ride, a wave pool and 3 more swimming pools in this one area. This was taken from the tram station.

Outside the Aria hotel. Wonderful round fountain that has dancing waters and multi-color lighting for the spirts.

Again, another wonderful adventure not far from home at a place that is amazing to visit.

aaaaaaachoooo, choo.......

I have seen this train since I was a kid but never had ridden on it. Thought it was time.

Number 10 is one of two trains still in use on this line. Pretty cool seeing them in the barn and then coming out. It snows here so they are put away for the winter. These engines were built around 1865 in Ohio. They were driven out to the Valley and disassembled in Madera. They were then brought into the mountains piece by piece and reassembled there. It's probably 5,000 feet elevation and there are a lot of mountains between here and the valley. Can you imagine how much work that is on something that is this heavy? This was the middle of nowhere, hardly any roads, no trucks etc. It uses 500 gallons of water each trip and I forget how much oil, but a lot.

It's really amazing to see this thing run. The drive train, crank, bearings, piston rods are all on the outside so you see everything working. Really cool. The pistons are huge. It pulls an amazing amount of weight.

The engineer invited me into the cab during a stop to get water. It's hot and there is a lot going on.

July 4th 2010 and Baby Reed

This year Lyle and I went to the Hanford High Football field to view the fireworks. It was a fantastic show and a fun gathering of friends.This is Jesse and Kate. Their baby was due on the 4th of July. Does she look close to going into labor? NOOOOOO! Erika was joining Jesse and Kate. They were all new to the Hanford High Firework experience. Believe me, they liked it!Jeanine and Larry walked to the stadium and enjoyed the fireworks with us for another year.Lyle and Larry a little Looney! Must be the start of their names! Almost embarrassing! :)

One happy mama-to-be~ The show was wonderful! I am sharing 10 of my favorite firework pics (out of the 70 I took) for Cory and Annie. They said it was not a good year for Firework Shows in Brooklyn this year. They got nothing. It was too far to travel to Red Hook to see them and the Macy show was only on the West side this year.

So Cory and Annie....these are for you! Enjoy... a little late! Note, the color is washed out compared to the real deal, but they were beautiful!

This one was shot through a viewer-in-a-fan that was given to us as we entered the stadium. It really enhanced the lights.

So this brings us to today. Wednesday, July 7th. This is Ainsley Reed. Born July 6th at 6:23 pm. She weighed in at 8 pounds 3 ounces! Mom had about 3 hours of hard labor after inducing.

We have adopted this family and just had to go to the base hospital to hold this beautiful little girl. Oh yes, and see her parents.

Kate is such a proud mama. She did good!

In case you did not know, Lyle loves babies! He was such a good papa to our boys when they were babies. Well, he still is a good dad, But babytime is very special to him.

So Jesse is done sharing! He loves his little girl!

Kate is such a sweetheart sharing her new little bundle. She is so glad to have healthy little Ainsley.

Unwrapped and ready for Jesse to change her diaper. She is such a good baby. Not much crying to be out in this cold room.

It is fun watching the 2 guys taking care of this sweet little girl.

Ainsley latched on to Lyle's finger and was holding so tight, her little fingertips were turning white. After about 2 hours of baby holding, we went home. But the memories are forever.

Congratulations to Jesse and Kate on the birth of their perfect little girl, Ainsley.